• What are the issues?
Motrin, to attract mothers, fielded an ad that came across as tasteless. The overarching idea behind reaching mothers was well intended but it was poorly executed through the wording in the ad. Perhaps the ad agency, based in Toronto, failed to fully incorporate the social construct, work-life balance challenges, and the sacrifices women make in the United States (and most developed world) to foster their career.
“Even mothers who work for pay are still doing twice the amount of housework and child care as fathers. In a 2010 study, partnered female scientists did 54 percent of the cooking, cleaning and laundry, while partnered male scientists carried just 28 percent of the load” (Crittenden, 2014).
The Motrin ad contained humor filled language in digital print: fashion, official mom, tired and crazy. However, in its totality, the ad fell flat and it was perceived as offensive to mothers who had sacrificed their careers to spend time with their children. In the mothers’ view, their desire or choice to be with their children had no parallels to a fashion statement or an official mother tag. …show more content…
They lost control of their message to Twitter, blogs, and You Tube which compelled the company to respond after 72 hours since posting the ad on their own website. Johnson & Johnson was cherished for its iconic response to the 1982 Tylenol fiasco by its media strategy (O’Rourke, 2010, p. 210). However, in Motrin’s case, it was caught off-guard, underprepared, under researched, and far behind the fluid social media
Motrin, to attract mothers, fielded an ad that came across as tasteless. The overarching idea behind reaching mothers was well intended but it was poorly executed through the wording in the ad. Perhaps the ad agency, based in Toronto, failed to fully incorporate the social construct, work-life balance challenges, and the sacrifices women make in the United States (and most developed world) to foster their career.
“Even mothers who work for pay are still doing twice the amount of housework and child care as fathers. In a 2010 study, partnered female scientists did 54 percent of the cooking, cleaning and laundry, while partnered male scientists carried just 28 percent of the load” (Crittenden, 2014).
The Motrin ad contained humor filled language in digital print: fashion, official mom, tired and crazy. However, in its totality, the ad fell flat and it was perceived as offensive to mothers who had sacrificed their careers to spend time with their children. In the mothers’ view, their desire or choice to be with their children had no parallels to a fashion statement or an official mother tag. …show more content…
They lost control of their message to Twitter, blogs, and You Tube which compelled the company to respond after 72 hours since posting the ad on their own website. Johnson & Johnson was cherished for its iconic response to the 1982 Tylenol fiasco by its media strategy (O’Rourke, 2010, p. 210). However, in Motrin’s case, it was caught off-guard, underprepared, under researched, and far behind the fluid social media